Better Late Than Never: Brooklyn Nets firing Steve Nash was long overdue

In the midst of a 2-5 start to their season, and Kyrie Irving facing backlash for a controversial antisemitic tweet, the Brooklyn Nets have fired head coach, Steve Nash. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced that the former two-time MVP and the Nets have mutually agreed to call it quits. The Nets also put out a press release about Nash’s departure.

“We want to thank Steve for everything he brought to our franchise over the past two-plus seasons,” General Manager Sean Marks stated in the press release. “Since becoming head coach, Steve was faced with a number of unprecedented challenges, and we are sincerely grateful for his leadership, patience and humility throughout his tenure. Personally, this was an immensely difficult decision; however, after much deliberation and evaluation of how the season has begun, we agreed that a change is necessary at this time. We wish Steve, Lilla and their family all the best in the future.”

However, Nash’s departure could be a sigh of relief for the Brooklyn Nets. Fans on social media reacted to the news with the same recurring narratives; Nash should have been fired a long time ago, the Nets are better off and stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are celebrating.

Brooklyn Nets took an ‘it’s better late than never’ approach by firing Steve Nash.

To say that his hiring was a long shot, to begin with, does not suffice. Even with his high basketball IQ, giving Nash the fast pass to coaching a championship-level team immediately raised questions that stayed throughout his tenure in Brooklyn. For a first-time head coach to be handed the tandem of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, immediately spelled bad news. Not only does it take a good coach to manage Durant and Irving as players, but it takes a lot of work to deal with characters that tend to allure controversy.

Upon joining forces in Brooklyn in 2020, Durant and Irving alluded to the fact that they did not need a coach. And perhaps they got what they wanted  — Nash served more as the scapegoat when the Nets failed to perform well, which happened quite often. To be fair, Nash has made plenty of errors as a coach, but what else do you expect from someone who got thrown into the deep waters right away?

The Nets may have thought that their star power would make up for Nash’s inexperience. However, his firing is long overdue. The Nets want to keep their stars happy. Over the summer, reports of Durant calling for Steve  Nash to be fired surfaced, but the organization managed to somehow keep both for the start of the season. Currently sitting in the 12th spot in the East, an underwhelming start became the definitive sign for the Nets to pull a plug that should not have been there in the first place.

Saying that they mutually agreed to the decision implies that Nash probably knew he was on thin ice. Everybody knew it was coming, and it was only a matter of time before it did. It is a step that the Nets front office should have taken a long time ago. But now that they have decided to face the music, it might be a sign of better things to come for the organization. There is plenty of time for them to turn the season around and succeed.

Sources have reported that the Brooklyn Nets plan to sign Ime Udoka, who is currently serving a suspension from the Boston Celtics after engaging in a consensual relationship with a staff member.

Controversy aside, Udoka has proven his ability as a coach, and getting him to Brooklyn could potentially solve their problems and please frustrated fans and players.